As Information Technology (IT) systems have become increasingly critical to the smooth operation of an organization, and arguably the economy as a whole, the importance of ensuring continued operation and rapid recovery of those systems has increased. Preparation for recovery of systems involves a significant investment of time and money, with the aim of ensuring minimal loss in the event of a disruptive event.
Prior to selecting a disaster recovery (DR) strategy, a disaster recovery administrator first refers to their organization's business continuity plan which may indicate expected metrics such as a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) or Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for various IT functions (such as payroll, order processing, accounting, manufacturing, etc.). These metrics are then mapped to the underlying systems and infrastructure that support those functions. The DR planner can determine the most suitable recovery strategy for each system.
In many cases, an organization may elect to use an outsourced disaster recovery service provider to provide a stand-by site and systems, rather than using their own facilities, increasingly via cloud computing.
It is often the case that planning for disaster recovery is thus coordinated between an organization's responsible administrator(s) and the outside service provider. These disaster recovery plans are often expensive to devise and it can become difficult for the personnel on both sides, the customer and the service provider, to keep up with rapidly changing computing environments. In one approach, a database can store information on available resources such as replication technologies for implementing disaster recovery plans. The database can include information concerning infrastructure and best practices that should be observed when implementing the disaster recovery plan.